


after all these years

by k1kth



Series: come, my darling, homeward bound [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:35:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k1kth/pseuds/k1kth
Summary: Family night in the Stark-Rhodes household and the realization that this is Tony's life now.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: come, my darling, homeward bound [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706491
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	after all these years

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to Mariam, who is truly the best IronHusbands warrior of us all. This idea stemmed from her watching Jurassic World and realizing how Nick Robinson can be a rhodeytony kid OC since we already have Ty Simpkins as Harley Keener so with our combined brain cell, I was inspired to write this: 3k words of nothing but domestic fluff. 
> 
> P.S: highly recommend listening to After All These Years by Journey while reading this, as is the title ;)

The rain had gotten aggressive when Tony pulled up to the house. It was completely dark outside, the streetlights barely doing anything to help, but the house was glowing oranges and yellows— a juxtaposition of warmth to the coldness outside.

Tony pulls the Audi into the garage right next to the family jeep and he’s barely turned the car off when he hears excited screams rising in a crescendo from inside. Curious, he quickly toes his rain-wet shoes off at the door leading from the garage to the house and is greeted with even more cheering as he drops his keys in a little basket next to the door.

“Let’s do it again, but longer!”

“Harls, we’re out of dominoes.”

“You guys already messed up my living room, you are _not_ making a longer chain.”

Tony turns the corner and grins at the sight he’s met with: his husband is puttering around the stove cooking dinner while his two sons are at the kitchen island, one at each end, picking up dominoes and arranging them into neat little lines. The house is washed with golden light, accentuated by the numerous candles Natasha had bought them as a gag gift one year but Tony had found he actually loved them so they kept a stock of them in one of the storage closets. The candles on the dining table were lit, and so were the ones sitting on the windowsill at the sink, right next to Harley’s small collection of succulents. 

“Hey honey, I’m home,” Tony sing-songs, coming up behind Rhodey to press a kiss to the back of his head.

“Hiya, Pops!”

“Hey, Pop.”

“Hey, Tones.” Rhodey swirls his head back to press a quick ‘welcome home’ peck to Tony’s lips before turning back to taste what was on the wooden spoon he was holding. 

“Wus’at?” Tony asks, keeping his arm across Rhodey’s back but leaving over to peek at the large pot Rhodey was messing with.

“Chili,” was the simple answer and Tony wolf-whistles with a smile. Chili nights were a tradition in the Stark-Rhodes household as it always meant that the night would be reserved for family fun nights— no homework, no work calls, nothing except for games and movies and multiple servings of a classic Rhodes family recipe.

“I take it Pepper isn’t allowed to bug me tonight?” 

Rhodey turns the stove off and places the lid on the pot to let it simmer as the heat dies down. He swivels and wraps his arms around Tony, humming as he tilts his head to press a longer kiss to the younger man’s lips. “Already texted her. You’re just gonna be swamped with things tomorrow.”

Tony dives back in for another quick kiss. “I’ll take it if it means time with you guys.”

Rhodey’s smile is blinding, his eyes shining with adoration, and Tony’s chest swells with pride. 

Thirty years he’s been married to this man, known him for longer than that, and it still doesn’t stop to amaze Tony just how lucky he is to have been able to know and love James Rhodes. Rhodey was there for him through thick and then, through all the ups and downs and he’s never once left his side. This was the loyalty that led to Tony falling head over heels for him in the first place; just a young MIT freshman, naive and sheltered from the woes of boarding school and already burdened with the responsibilities of being the only Stark heir. Rhodey knocked his ego down, showed him how to be humble, how to be brave, and even decades later, with new additions to their family, Tony is still learning and growing from the love Rhodey gives him.

“Can you guys stop being gross already?”

Tony turns around and locks his eyes on his youngest, Harley, who’s too busy lining up a couple dominoes at a certain distance from each other.

“You’re lucky you still have two parents who love each other very much,” Tony retorts, but he walks towards him anyway and presses a kiss to the tuft of blond hair.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re very grateful,” Harley says off-handedly, the bite of his words softened by the way he’s preening at the attention Tony’s giving him.

“And _we_ are very grateful to have two _wonderful_ and _responsible_ sons who will _definitely_ clean up their mess at the kitchen island before dinner is ready, isn’t that right, Tones?” Rhodey says, slinging an arm around their oldest, Benji, as he pointedly looks at Harley. Benji rolls his eyes, but leans into the side-hug anyway.

“Yeah, dad, we will. When’s dinner ready anyway?” Benji asks, tucking his phone away as he gives his parents his full attention.

Rhodey stretches his neck to look at the clock on the microwave. “I’d say another 20 minutes. Why don’t you boys finish up this mess here and go choose what you wanna do?”

“Sounds good,” Benji answers, answering for both him and Harley, who’s fallen into a deep conversation with Tony about the physics of trick shots.

Benji and Harley were Tony and Rhodey’s only sons. It took a while for both of them to finally decide when the perfect time was to bring a child into the fold, considering the trials and tribulations of being superheroes but in the end, a few years into their marriage and once the Avengers had enough members to fill up a part-time roster, they adopted Benji. 

Benji— short for Benjamin, their oldest at 22— was more pensive, more logical like Rhodey. He was a natural leader, but more creative and invested in the arts as he was a drama and theater major at NYU. Despite not being genetically related to either men, he had their intelligence and years of being in the limelight, both as a Stark-Rhodes and an actor, had made him confident in his abilities to read and control a room, though he was quieter in nature than his younger sibling. 

Harley— the baby of the family, so to speak, at 15— was more like Tony, both in smarts and personality. Though Harley was a sweet and kind kid, he was a lot like Tony in the sense that he was a bit impulsive and had a big personality in that he was definitely the louder one of the two siblings, but he also had adopted Tony’s knack for mechanics and engineering. 

The Avengers had a running joke that Benji and Harley were the “prodigal sons” in that between the two of them and who their parents were, they would probably have the highest chance of dominating the world.

Tony and Harley had responded excitedly to the idea, while Rhodey and Benji had simply sighed and reassured those working outside their little superhero circle that no, the Stark-Rhodes children will _not_ be assuming the positions of “world overlords” in the future, near or far.

The boys were close to their parents, and Tony especially took pride in that. Neither of them were hesitant to ever approach either Tony or Rhodey when they needed to talk, or when they needed help, and Benji never had to be afraid to come out to them.

Tony, just before he and Rhodey started the adoption process, hadn’t hesitated to share his insecurities about becoming like Howard, and Rhodey had believed in him, had told him that he could never be like his father, despite what his past said otherwise. And now, nearly three decades later, their family was as complete and happy as can be, living in a quaint two-story that wasn’t too big nor too small in the Hamptons, the beach right at their backyard. 

Tony plops himself on the couch and presses close to his husband with their glasses of wine, talking softly about their respective days at work while their sons finish up their little game in the other room. 

“I upgraded your thrusters. They should give you a smoother flight now that I reduced the energy output needed to give you enough lift,” Tony tells Rhodey before taking a sip of the white wine they both love. It was the same wine at their wedding.

“You’re the best.” Rhodey smacks his lips together after a sip. “Steve and Sharon are hosting a barbecue at their place for Ellie’s birthday next weekend, by the way. Sharon wanted me to remind you that Ellie doesn’t need a holo-shield of her own quite yet so don’t give her one.”

Tony rolls over dramatically and groans. “But Ellie _loves_ the holo-shield I made Ian!”

Rhodey laughs. “Tones, she’s 12.”

Tony sits up and glares at his husband, wine glass held precariously between his fingers. “So? I was being kidnapped and ransomed at 12, she needs something to defend herself when her parents are _Captain America_ and _Agent 13_.”

Rhodey rolls his eyes and slaps Tony’s knee. “She’s _fine_ , Tony. Besides, Sharon said you can make her anything, as long as it can’t be classified as a weapon.”

Tony pouts. He’s about to open his mouth and say something else when a loud cheer echoes from the kitchen.

“You boys good over there?” Rhodey calls out.

“We finally got the loops to fall,” Benji answers, peeking his head through the doorway. 

“We’re gonna try and have a whole chain with some tricks next time,” Harley says excitedly, poking his head under his brother’s, floppy hair bouncing everywhere.

Both parents chuckle and shake their head. “The both of you can do that some other day. Now could you two clean up your mess and pick a game and a couple movies you wanna play?” Tony asks.

“Sure thing, Pops,” Benji answers while Harley just sends him back a thumbs up, their combined chattering softening as they leave.

Tony turns his head back and meets Rhodey’s eyes, crinkling at the corners as he smiles at the younger man.

“What?” Tony laughs. Rhodey simply shakes his head and tugs him closer, his body relaxing at the others’ warmth.

“No regrets?” Rhodey asks, though Tony knows it’s a rhetorical question. 

The brunet tilts his head up from where it’s leaning against Rhodey’s shoulder and meets his husband’s eyes. “I have many regrets in life. This family isn’t one of them.”

A wide grin splits the darker man’s face and he leans his head forward to lock their mouths together. “I love you,” Rhodey whispers against Tony’s lips, his wedding ring shining from where his hand is pressed against the younger’s cheek.

The warm ache in Tony’s chest uncurls, beating deeper as he remembers that _this_ is his life now. 

After all they’ve gone through— all the wars and battles, the near-death experiences, the threats— they’re here, living the normal family life (well, as normal as it can get) Tony thought he’d never have, with the person he thought he never deserved; James Rhodes, a man with a heart as pure as gold and a loyalty so unwavering that it never fails to surprise Tony, even after all these years. He’s worked so hard to redeem himself from his past, but this…

“And I love you,” Tony whispers back, his own matching ring clinking against the wine glass that’s resting on his knee. 

This is his reward.

-

The boys had chosen a trivia game for family fun night, and to say Tony was— well, simply put— _bad_ at it was an understatement.

“WHY AM I GETTING MY FINGERS CHOPPED OFF IF I DON’T GET THIS RIGHT?”

Rhodey, the asshole, is smirking from his side while Tony’s two sons, the little traitors, laugh at him.

“Pop, it’s called _Trivia Murder Party_ for a reason,” Benji explains, laughing as he navigates the questions on the screen easily. 

“Think of it like _Saw_ , but trivia,” Harley elaborates, snickering as he looks down on his phone where he’s inputing his own answers.

Tony groans and flops back on the couch dramatically, groaning louder when his little patch doll doesn’t get points. Benji and Harley, however, scream in happiness when they see they answered correctly, the two of them head to head on the scoreboard. Rhodey is just quietly glowing in his own pride at having more points than his husband.

Tony pokes his husband in the side. “You’re supposed to be letting me win.”

Rhodey laughs. “You heard the boys, Tones. The goal is to survive.” He pivots his head to look Tony straight in the eye and smirk. “That means no mercy.”

Tony grabs the pillow from behind him and swings it so it hits a laughing James Rhodes in the face. “I’m divorcing you, fuck you.”

“Shut up! Next question!” Harley yells.

Rhodey is still giggling to himself when they turn their attention back to the TV screen.

“In which German city is Oktoberfest held each year: Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, or Berlin,” Benji reads off.

“What the fuck,” Tony deadpans. Harley is giggling as he presses the answer on his phone.

Rhodey shrugs. “I’m taking a guess.” 

Tony presses the same button Rhodey does. 

The timer hits zero and Tony yells at the same time Benji and Harley pump their fists in the air and high-five each other.

“ _Munich?_ No, I swear to god it was Berlin!” Tony screams defensively, watching as two little red X’s appear on his and Rhodey’s dolls while the boys’ gain $1,000. 

“That’s not what the game says,” Benji retorts. 

Rhodey doesn’t even _care_ he got it wrong; he’s laughing so hard he’s bent over at the waist _wheezing._ Tony narrows his eyes at him. “You did this on purpose.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you looked off my phone,” Rhodey retorts, still laughing.

“Last chance, Pops,” Harley tells Tony as the screen displays “The Killing Floor”. 

Tony whips his head back at Rhodey. “I’m winning this.”

Rhodey grins, all shiny white teeth. “You’re on.”

The prompt displays on the TV: “What’s the best song to sing at karaoke?”, but the catch is that they have to pick the worst answer.

Both men put in their answers and wait until their answers show up on the screen.

“Achy breaky heart or,” Benji laughs, “The national anthem.”

Harley throws his head back and cackles, excitedly pressing his answer on the screen. 

“Ex _cuse_ you, Billy Ray Cyrus is a national legend,” Tony says, knocking his shoulder against Rhodey’s. Rhodey puts his hands up in a surrendering motion.

“I’m not saying he isn’t,” he responds.

“Time’s up,” says the deep voice from the TV and the scores display, showing Tony’s answer as the “winner”. 

“YEAH, KISS MY ASS— WAIT, WHY DID I DIE? WHAT THE FUCK!” 

Everyone dissolves into laughter, Harley and Benji honest-to-god _howling_ at Tony’s disbelief, the both of them leaning on each other as they wheeze. 

“What the fuck was the question? It’s pick the worst possible answer, right?!” 

“Tones, you were supposed to put the _best_ possible answer and then we all had to vote for which was the worse of the two,” Rhodey explains, failing to hide his snickers. 

Tony slouches back on the couch when his patch doll is eliminated on screen. 

“I hate this game,” he says, pouting.

“You’re just a loser, Pops,” Benji says smirking. Tony chucks a pillow at his head but it only encourages Benji’s laughter even further. 

“Devil kids, the both of you,” Tony tells his sons, but they do nothing but continue to laugh at him as the game carries on.

They know he’s joking so Tony doesn’t really feel bad calling them that. It was just how their family dynamic worked.

There’s a couple more trivia questions and challenges that each of them, except for Tony, go through before the only one “alive” is Benji, who has to spin a wheel.

All of them groan when the wheel ends on “death” and suddenly all their dolls are racing each other to get away from the darkness in order to “survive”.

“Fuck! I clicked the wrong answer!” Harley groans, facepalming. 

“‘Hercules’ labours’— Ha! I know this one!” Tony exclaims, excitedly pressing the answers on his own phone. 

Their adrenaline is spiking as the timers get shorter and shorter with each question that pops up and their dolls move further and further to the right towards the light, the shadows catching up quick.

“‘Human bones’?! I’m an arts major not a STEM major, dammnit!” Benji squeaks, clicking furiously at his phone.

Benji’s doll is still in the lead, but Tony’s is slowly making a comeback, catching up to Benji and Harley’s dolls. Rhodey already “died” but he was content enough to simply lay back and watch the stress take over the rest of his family. 

“Fuck, okay, I’m safe,” Benji sighs, slouching back on the couch and throwing his phone down on his lap as his doll exits into the light.

A couple more quick trivia questions later and Tony beats Harley to the escape, Harley getting a question wrong and getting eliminated.

“NOOOOOO,” the teen wails dramatically, his own father jumping up on his own two feet and pumping his fists in celebration.

“Now, _that’s_ a comeback, baby!”

“Ughhhhhhhhhh,” Harley groans, his head thrown back against the edge of the couch’s back, Benji giggling at his little brother’s misery.

“Aw, poor baby,” Tony mocks, walking over to leave an exaggerated kiss atop of Harley’s head. Harley pretends to push him away but he doesn’t put in much effort as he receives more attention.

“At least you answered the question about which company had the trademark tartan right,” Benji reassures, patting his younger brother on the knee.

“How the hell was I supposed to know what ‘tartan’ was?” Tony defends.

Harley rolls his eyes fondly. “ _You’re_ the fashion dweeb in this house, Pops. I thought you’d know.”

Tony sniffs. “I just call them beige squares, thank you very much.”

They go on and play four more rounds, their playful banter going on until finally, by midnight, their energy starts to dwindle down so they switch over from game night to movie night.

They continue to banter their way through _The Martian_ , spending a good ten minutes about how the guy playing Chris Beck looks _exactly_ like Uncle Bucky, before they start to quiet down when they finish and put the first _Transformers_ in.

Benji and Harley are asleep within the first half hour.

Rhodey and Tony are whispering quietly amongst themselves about whatever while paying little attention to the movie when a snort from Harley catches their attention. Their sons are leaning against each other in the strangest position they have ever seen; Harley was lying with his head against the arm rest with one of his legs propped up on the back of the couch, pressed against the crown of Benji’s head, while Benji had one leg on the floor and the other parallel to the couch. 

Tony grimaces at the potential neck pain the both of them might have if they left them there.

“Should we wake them up?” He whispers to Rhodey, who pauses the movie. 

“Probably. You gonna do it?” Rhodey says.

Tony hums his confirmation and gets up from his position under Rhodey’s arm. 

“Benji, honey, you’re gonna have neck pains if you stay on the couch,” Tony whispers as he shakes his son softly.

The older boy grumbles but blinks his eyes open just a little bit. “Wa’sit?”

“Go sleep in your room, bubs. It’s late.” 

Benji surely but slowly gets up to go to his own room upstairs, but not before wrapping his arms around his dad.

“G’night, Pops. Love you,” he mumbles sleepily. Tony closes his eyes and smiles.

“Love ‘ya, kid.”

Benji leaves Tony’s embrace and waving a hand over his shoulder to Rhodey. “Night, dad,” he yawns.

“Night, kid,” Rhodey answers back.

When Tony shakes Harley to tell him to go up to his own room, Harley startles with a mumble of, “Bumblebee?”

Tony chuckles. “Yeah, Harls, Bumblebee.”

Harley rubs his eyes and stands, but stumbles his way into Tony’s embrace in a sleep-induced hug. 

“I wanna car that transforms, too,” Harley mumbles into Tony’s shoulder. Tony can hear Rhodey chuckle as Tony struggles to hold his growing teen up. 

“You already have Iron Man and War Machine, kid,” Tony says, grinning at his son’s incoherent mumbling.

“S’not the same,” Harley responds, still swaying on his feet.

“Hm. Go up to bed and I’ll promise you we’ll make one.”

“Mm. ‘Kay.” Harley turns away from Tony with a little “love you” that sounded like gibberish and disappears up the stairs. 

Tony shakes his head and goes back to his spot next to Rhodey, who shuffles until his head is lying on Tony’s lap as they press play on the movie. 

“You’re really gonna build him a Transformer?” Rhodey laughs.

Tony throws his feet up against the coffee table and hums, his hands connecting with Rhodey’s on Rhodey’s chest, their matching bands clinking against each other.

“If he remembers it in the morning, I’ll build him one.”

Rhodey chuckles again and they lay watching peacefully as Optimus Prime and Megatron battle on screen.

“We did good, didn’t we,” Tony says softly, squeezing at Rhodey’s hand.

Rhodey brings their entwined hands to press a kiss against the back of Tony’s hands, Tony’s own heart beating fondly for this man at his side.

“Yeah. We did good.”

**Author's Note:**

> The trivia game they're playing is actually a real game and it's really fun! My friends and I play it all the time and I got inspo from our own dynamic to write the Stark-Rhodes fam playing it :)


End file.
